Some websites offer a social networking environment in which users can play casino-style games. Such websites may offer casino-style games upon which players wager money, and non-wagering versions of those games. Social gaming environments enable users to make friends, share common interests, play community games, and otherwise interact. However, because the Internet offers a variety of content, users may leave game-related social networking sites, seeking other content, such as news and other media. After leaving social gaming websites, users may receive advertisements, which can encourage them to visit various websites, purchase products via the internet, etc.
On the internet, targeted advertising is an effective mechanism for marketing products and services, and otherwise influencing users. Before targeted advertising, advertisers had limited ability to reach an audience interested in their products or services. For example, a company selling football equipment could choose to place advertisements on websites relating to sports and athletics (e.g., ESPN.com). While this is likely more effective than placing advertisements arbitrarily on websites having a variety of themes, there was no assurance that visitors of websites relating to sports and athletics had any interesting purchasing football equipment. For example, many of ESPN.com's visitors are likely adults that enjoy watching televised sporting events, but may not themselves participate in sporting events (let alone football). Such visitors may be unlikely to have interest in a company selling football equipment. With current technology, the online behavior can be tracked. For example, when a user browses the internet, files can be created and saved, logging what websites the user visited, which items the user clicked on or hovered over while on the websites, search queries that the user has entered, times that the user visited websites, how long the user stayed on each website and each webpage, etc. With such technology, advertisers have a greater ability to reach an audience interested in their services or products. For example, the same company selling football equipment can serve advertisements to individuals that in the past, have viewed sporting goods store websites, entered search queries relating to football equipment, clicked on links or other material related to football equipment, etc. Based on the historical data associated with the user's online activity, advertisers can presume that the user may be interested in purchasing football equipment. Typically, when a user visits a webpage, the webpage queries the user's computer to determine if the user has previously visited the website. If the user has not previously visited the website, the website may create a data file containing information identifying the user, and possibly the user's activity while on the website, and store the file on the user's computer (e.g., drop a cookie on the user's hard disk). If the user has previously visited the website, the website updates the information in the data file, logging the user's current visit. When multiple websites are members of the same ad network, the ad network can access the user's browsing information stored by the websites. This enables ad networks to serve webpage advertisements that are based on the user's browsing information. In other words, when a new webpage or website is visited, the ad network serves a new advertisement for the user to view that corresponds to the user's browsing history.